slender (adjective)
(slen· der | \ ˈslen-dər)
Definition:
1: spare in frame or flesh
2: limited or inadequate in amount or scope

Chapter 1

The sixth year at Hogwarts had been somewhat odd so far. So much was going on. Between classes, Quidditch, homework and his meetings with Dumbledore, there wasn't much time left to do anything else really. Even worrying about all those terrifying incidents that had occurred, was unfortunately only ever possible when he was supposed to fall asleep. Katie Bell had been hexed, Ron had been poisoned and a second-year student from Hufflepuff had almost suffocated on a tar-like substance that had been suddenly filling out his mouth and nose. This last incident had happened two days ago in one of the many corridors inside the castle. Understandingly, everyone was afraid to be the next victim. But Harry was preoccupied with something else.

"Have you heard what Goyle did this morning in Transfiguration? I can't believe it!", said Hermione indignantly.

Oh, yes. Another thing that made this year seem so odd.

Crabbe and Goyle were suddenly incredibly good wizards. Somehow, they both had turned into 'Hermiones' over the summer. There wasn't a spell they couldn't perform and each and every question asked by the teachers was answered correctly. At first, he, Ron and Hermione didn't believe the stories they had heard but after a few potion lessons, they had to admit that the gossip was true. It seemed impossible but Crabbe and Goyle were good at school. Hermione had been investigating the matter and apparently they claimed that they had been studying very hard over the summer. Their parents had insisted on it, because their O.W.L. results had been miserable. Hermione didn't believe Crabbe and Goyle's story. She was certain that this much knowledge couldn't be obtained during one summer vacation. Especially because they were both incredibly good at non-verbal spells. And that was something they've only just learned at the beginning of the new school year. Harry and Ron agreed with Hermione. This was very strange.

While Hermione told him and Ron all about the latest dazzling spell that Goyle had performed in Transfiguration, they finished their lunch, got up and walked out of the Great Hall. Passing the Slytherin table, Harry glanced over to where Crabbe and Goyle sat. They were the centre of attention, talking and smiling. Malfoy wasn't sitting at his usual spot between Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table. In fact, he wasn't there at all. He was seldom seen in the Great Hall and when he did appear, he sat alone at the far end of the table, close to the door. The other Slytherin's eyed him with a mixture of fear and curiosity but no one talked to him, not even Crabbe and Goyle. For five years, the three had been nearly inseparable and suddenly they wouldn't even look at each other. The whole thing seemed like an alternate reality. Crabbe and Goyle were now popular, even liked and Malfoy was shunned, and seemed almost inexistent at times. Not that Malfoy had been particularly liked before, but he had been the Slytherin's poster boy and to be on good terms with him had had its perks. Crabbe and Goyle had been the invisible ones, two shadows following Malfoy everywhere. What had happened over the summer?

Why were those three behaving so completely different?

Why was Malfoy avoiding other people, classes and well, everything really?

And that was it; the thing Harry was preoccupied with. Not that he wanted the old Malfoy back, no! This one was much better. Weeks would pass without Harry catching a glimpse of Malfoy and there were no jinxes or snarky remarks when he passed by him in the corridors. Life at Hogwarts was much more pleasant like this. And yet, he couldn't stop thinking about it, wondering what was going on. At first he had been looking at the Marauder's map every now and then during classes, to check Malfoys' whereabouts and to see if he'd been skipping school again. But then his curiosity got the better of him and he began to check the map more frequently. Every time it seemed safe to open it, he did so.

As he walked with Ron and Hermione along the corridors to get to their next class, he consulted the map again. It told him, that Malfoy was in the Slytherin common room, alone.

"You are looking for Malfoy again, aren't you?", Hermione said, looking over his shoulder from behind.

"Yeah..", Harry responded.

"But why are you still doing that? I mean, you've discovered that he skips most of his lessons, and spends his time either at the boy's bathroom on the sixth floor, the Slytherin common room, his own room, the library and sometimes you can't find him. That's all the map can tell you, Harry. It won't tell you what he's up to. If he is up to anything at all, that is. We should focus on Crabbe and Goyle. Those two are weird."

"Just because they are as skilled as you, doesn't mean they're weird", Ron said, and added: "You're afraid that one day, they will outperform you, aren't you?"

"Of course not!", Hermione snapped. "But the whole thing is suspicious. I've told you before, they couldn't have.."

"I know, I know", Ron sighed. "What about Polyjuice Potion? Maybe they aren't the real Crabbe and Goyle."

Hermione was shaking her head and said: "No, they would have to drink it regularly and I haven't seen them carrying any flasks or bottles around with them."

Ron and Hermione were so immersed in their conversation about Crabbe and Goyle that they didn't notice that Harry had let himself fall back a little and wasn't listening to them anymore.

He was still pondering over the first thing Hermione had said. She was right. The map could only tell him where Malfoy was, but not what he was doing there.

"Should we go over there and talk to him?", Crabbe whispered hesitantly.

"What is there to talk about? We settled the matter on our train ride to Hogwarts", Goyle answered in an equally hushed tone.

Crabbe sighed. "I know. But I feel sorry for him. I mean...look at him. Don't you get the feeling that he's losing it? I don't want to be responsible for...you know...if he...tops himself."

"Oh, come on. He's not gonna do that. It's probably just hard for him to cope with the new situation. He'll get used to it."

"New? Half a year has passed and he's...well...", Crabbe thought about it for a moment and couldn't come up with a good word to describe his former friends' state, "...still like that. Although... actually, I think he's getting worse."

The two Slytherins sat in their common room, it was late and they were trying to finish some homework but Crabbe couldn't concentrate. Draco Malfoy was sitting in an armchair in the darkest corner of the common room. He looked terrible. His hair was greasy and unkempt, his school uniform stained and in disarray. He picked absentmindedly at something that was lying in his hand and stared into space. All Slytherins gave him a wide berth and Crabbe couldn't blame them. It was kinda creepy. Almost everyone in their year was relieved each time it was certain that Draco would skip school again. No one liked to be near him. Of course they were all speculating about Draco's state. Most of the students were convinced that he was distressed over his fathers' arrest. And they weren't wrong, but the whole thing was a hundred times more complex than simple sadness. Crabbe couldn't help himself, he felt guilty. He knew that Goyle felt the same way, but his friend was better at pushing the nagging inner voice aside.

Goyle frowned while he watched Draco for a moment, but then he shook his head and said, more to himself than to Crabbe: "No, he's not our responsibility. And you know full well, that he's gonna yell at us again if we attempt to talk to him about it."

"Yeah, you're probably right", Crabbe muttered.

"And frankly, I think he's overreacting", Golye said but when he saw the appalled look on Crabbe's face he added quickly: "Don't get me wrong. Obviously, we both know how hard Draco's life is and I wouldn't want to be in his shoes but come on...letting himself go like that...I mean I get that he wants to skip certain lessons and avoid attention but it's not helping if he walks around looking like an Inferius."

Crabbe nodded. "We should tell him that."

"What?"

"We should tell him that he's attracting too much attention this way."

Goyle snorted. "If you want to get your head bitten off, be my guest but I'm going to finish my homework now."

Crabbe sighed again and focused on his own homework. Twenty minutes later they were both done, and decided to go to sleep. They packed up their books, parchments and quills and headed for their dormitory.